Jenson Button entered Formula One in 2000 with the Williams team having pursued an early career in karting, Formula Ford and Formula 3. he won the British Formula Ford championship in 1988 at the age of 18 scoring a very impressive nine wins. He had mixed fortunes in his first season with Williams scoring 12 World Championship points. For 2001 he moved on to the Benetton Team recently acquired by Renault. It was to be a disastrous season for Button who struggled season long with the generally uncompetitive car and was also outperformed by his more experienced team mate Giancarlo Fisichella. He finished the season 17th in the championship and was written off by many at that early stage of his career. Button had a somewhat better season with the team renamed to Renault in 2002, measuring up reasonably well against his new team mate Jarno Trulli and finishing in a respectable 4th place in the championship. He was replaced at Renault in 2003 by Fernando Alonso, a decision made by the charismatic and often controversial Flavio Briatore. Button moved on to join BAR where he was to stay until the team was bought out by Honda in 2006. he remained loyal to the team until Honda pulled out at the end of the 2008 season and the team was rescued by Ross Brawn and renamed Brawn GP. The years at BAR and Honda saw Button achieve limited success but did yield a long overdue maiden win for him and the team at the 2006 Hungarian Grand Prix. In 2009 however it all came good with Brawn GP, as the team benefitted from a well developed car from the outset of the season and was equipped with a double diffuser at the rear of the car, a technical innovation that was to prove decisive. The team had alsmost gone under when Ross Brawn and Nick Fry stepped into the breach and bought the team from Honda but from the moment the new car hit the track it looked like a winner. Button fully exploited the new car's capabilities blitzing the field and winning six out the first seven races of the season. He then had a worrying loss of form and although he was picking up points was generally being outpace by his title hungry team mate Rubens Barrichello and the up and coming Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel. Button held his nerve however and secured the title with one race remaining at Interlagos. he joins Lewis Hamilton at McLaren for the 2010 season after failing to reach agreement on a contract to stay with Mercedes GP (ex Brawn).
For the record
Nationality - British
Born 19th January 1980
First GP Australia 2000
Total GP's 171
Wins 7
Poles 7
Fastest laps 2
Total points 327
Teams
-Williams
-Benetton
-Renault
-BAR
-Honda
-Brawn GP
-McLaren
World Champion
-2009
